Before long, a middle-aged professor with only one arm walked into the lab.
"Students, today's experiment will be the synthesis and decomposition of biological proteins."
Curt Connors glanced around the classroom, his gaze immediately locking onto Charlie in the corner.
Because all the other students were already looking at him.
"Charlie Parker, good to see you in class."
To Charlie's surprise, Professor Connors didn't seem the least bit upset about his recent absences. Instead, he smiled warmly, publicly praising him.
"Everyone, I've been chatting with Charlie online over the past few days, and I must say, his insights into biology have surprised me. He's also quite adept with mechanical theory. If any of you have questions in those areas, feel free to ask him."
Hearing this, the rest of the students looked at Charlie with even stranger expressions.
"Yes, Professor Connors, not only is Charlie smart, but his selfies are quite something too."
"Haha, I heard he was messaging dozens of girls at once."
"And they all blocked him."
"Crazy Charlie!"
The classroom buzzed with chatter. Professor Connors furrowed his brow.
"Quiet."
Without waiting for anyone to speak, he turned back to Charlie and said, "See me after class."
"Got it."
Charlie nodded, guessing that Connors must have discussed many things with Norman.
Harry leaned in and whispered, "Don't forget the basketball game tonight."
Charlie covered his face. "I don't even play basketball."
Harry rolled his eyes. "You're not playing. You asked me to invite Gwen from the sophomore class. Did you forget?"
Charlie: "..."
Great, even after dying, villains are still moving the plot forward.
Now that's professionalism.
Professor Connors soon demonstrated the experiment.
"Today, we'll be working with Black Widow spider silk proteins. By blending them with different materials at specific ratios, we can create silk with varying properties."
Despite having only one arm, Professor Connors performed the experiment effortlessly, without the need for an assistant.
Meanwhile, Charlie opted not to use Black Widow's silk. Instead, he squeezed out a bit of his own webbing from his wrist, blending it with a high-strength resin at a 1:1 ratio.
Quickly, he produced a sample of silk that, while less tensile, was far stickier and harder to break down.
The silk Charlie produced from his body was naturally sticky and would decompose within three hours. Although it had high tensile strength, it still couldn't compare to other versions of Spider-Man's webbing.
When he was hungry or weak, his body would stop producing the necessary proteins to generate webbing, which was an inconvenience.
So, Charlie intended to develop synthetic webbing to avoid being caught off guard at crucial moments.
Peter Parker had created functional synthetic webbing in a very short time—definitely a teenage genius.
But Charlie wasn't Peter, and he was far behind other Spider-Men in this regard. It would take him much longer to develop it.
The 1:1 blend wasn't working, so he adjusted the ratio and continued experimenting.
The lab session ended, but Charlie hadn't made significant progress.
Ten minutes later, Charlie followed Professor Connors to his personal lab.
"Charlie, this is the lizard gene experiment I mentioned."
Professor Connors pointed at a terrarium containing a green lizard, his eyes filled with excitement.
"Thanks to your advice, my regeneration serum data is more complete. Plus, Oscorp has funded my project, so I'll be starting live trials soon."
Charlie frowned at this.
"Live trials? Human trials?"
"Of course not," Professor Connors chuckled. "That's illegal. We'll be starting with lab mice."
"I hope so," Charlie thought, feeling uneasy.
In the Marvel Universe, Curt Connors' regeneration serum experiment was almost impossible to complete successfully.
Given his obsession with the serum, Charlie knew he couldn't convince Connors to abandon the experiment.
With Norman's involvement, the project seemed to be progressing faster.
Which meant the birth of the Lizard was likely not far off.
Both Norman and Professor Connors had been kind people before being altered by genetic serums.
Charlie hadn't been able to stop Norman from becoming the Green Goblin, but there was still time to help Professor Connors.
Charlie knew he wasn't capable of perfecting Connors' experimental data, so his best option was to slow down the process.
As these thoughts raced through his mind, Professor Connors continued chatting with Charlie.
However, Charlie wasn't as well-versed in biology as Norman, so to avoid suspicion, he mostly nodded along, pretending to be engaged while planning his next steps.
After half an hour, Charlie left the lab, and Harry was waiting for him outside.
"Who knew you were so impressive? Even Professor Connors, who's tough to get along with, likes you. How did I not realize you were a genius?" Harry grinned, throwing an arm around Charlie's shoulders.
Charlie shrugged. "Being friends with you, no matter how impressive I am, I'd always be overshadowed by your... money. You should know that."
Harry smirked. "True, but you won't regret it."
Then, his expression grew somber. "But a lot has been happening at the company lately. My father didn't tell me directly, but I think Oscorp might go bankrupt soon. I might lose my 'money power.'"
Beep beep~
Harry's phone rang, and after answering, his face fell.
"Are you kidding me? Charlie, something's come up. You'll have to go to the basketball game without me. I've got to leave."
Harry rushed off toward the parking lot, while Charlie didn't follow immediately. Instead, he headed up to the rooftop, changed into his nano-suit, and swung away.
He knew why Harry was in such a hurry.
Vroom~
Before long, Harry's sports car roared out of the campus.
Half an hour later, in the villa district...
Harry burst into his father's bedroom, only to find a cold, lifeless body lying on the bed.
The corpse was gruesome, covered in slashes and deep, gory wounds, with a massive hole in the chest where the heart had been ripped out. It was horrifying.
"What...?"
Harry stood frozen, staring at the body. Slowly, he collapsed to his knees, trembling uncontrollably.
"Father... he..." Harry turned to the butler, John, his eyes bloodshot.
He had lost his only family, and his world felt like it was crumbling.
Memories of his father flashed through his mind, sending waves of pain through his heart.
Grief filled the room as John solemnly spoke.
"Yes, he's dead. A mysterious figure told me where to collect the body. When I arrived, I found Norman... and..."
John pointed to the corner where a broken suit of armor lay.
"And the Green Goblin's armor."
"Did the Green Goblin kill my father?" Harry's body shook.
John shook his head. "No, the truth is... your father was the Green Goblin."
"What?"
Grief momentarily forgotten, Harry was in complete disbelief.
"That's impossible. My father would never bomb his own company!"
Harry's anguished shouts echoed through the room.
At the same time, Spider-Man—Charlie—silently slipped into the villa, holding the green key Norman had given him, searching for a hidden entrance.
He hadn't handed the key over to Harry yet.
If Norman had left behind an unfinished genetic serum, Harry's fate could be tragic.